If This is a Woman: Inside Ravensbruck, Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women

"...does the precise number of dead really matter? Survivors think names are more important than numbers." The author Sarah Helm didn't write this history as dry facts and figures; she used the names and stories of the women who lived the horrific atrocities found in this book. I borrowed the book from my mother, but then it sat on my night stand for over a year because I knew what would be in it and I had to steel myself for the horror. When I did begin, I read what I knew would be there and more horrific details, but I couldn't put the book down many nights. Helm wrote personal stories that drew me in and made me feel like I knew these women; they had become friends of mine. I am greatful to Helm for the incredible work she did to show more uncover this story that was almost lost to history. The 123,000 plus women who went through Ravensbruck were real, not faceless numbers. show less

It's taken a while for me to figure this out about writing reviews for books I read, but the better the book, the harder it is for me to review it. Do I just say, "Wow, that was great!", and hope the person reading my review just takes my word for it? Not even my wife trusts me that much. So, no. Do I explain in detail why I think it's great, taking page after page to layout the book's many attributes? Nah. I need that time reading more books, and, after all, nobody likes me enough to read that much of what I have to say, so, also no. So, what can I say about this epic tome? It is epic, after all. Yet, one look at the book's subtitle, and most people I know wouldn't think twice about reading it, or should I say not reading it. Think show more Hitler and concentration camp, and I dare say the vast number of American's will think "Jews", "gassing", and probably Auschwitz. Who wants to read nearly 700 pages of assembly-line genocide? The thing is, this book is not even close to being that. First, it is unique, being about the Nazi concentration camp for women. Two, it very quickly fills the reader in on the breadth of depravity the Nazis had for a vast array of non-Jews, or should I say more precisely, non-Aryans, and even Aryans with "worthless lives" and any Aryan who may not support this depravity with full measure of vigor. Third, it acknowledges and points out the reaction within the camp to the various stages of this depravity, without specifying the cause of those stages. Emphasis of the Jewish genocide increased as German armies went toward and into Russia. The emphasis on merely killing anyone unable to walk, came when those Soviet armies won at Stalingrad, stopped Hitler from getting critical access to oil fields and started overrunning other concentration camps besides the women's camp. The author does not cite those events, but the reaction at the camp is obvious. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the author, who did masterful work both in document research and a multitude of personal interviews, lets the reader know in complex, intimate narrative about the persistent, creative, intelligent, empathetic, heroic ways many of the women in this camp, survived, if they could, and helped others survive, if they themselves could not. The idea of women as the "fairer sex" will be forever ripped from your brain, indeed if it was ever there. The deaths of so many of these women, regardless of their religion, nationality, politics, or vocation, is tragic beyond measure, but it was the will of them to withstand, to survive, that deeply colors my view of what the author has written. The book is like a great novel. I expect it to resonate with me not for just a long time, but forever. show less

the amount of information in this book is pretty astounding. i don't know if it's because i really stopped reading ww2 books and just don't remember as much, or if it's the research she did, but i feel like there was so much new information in this book. i had no idea, for example, that prisoners could send and receive letters and packages. (obviously much of it was censored/confiscated and i'm not suggesting this made this less of a concentration camp.) maybe it was different at ravensbruck compared to other camps because it was all women and they were trying to keep alive the myth that it was a worker's camp and not a death camp. regardless, so much in here that i didn't know and that was enlightening. as hard as it is to read about show more this time, i think now it's especially important to remember both what happened and how we got there, so we take steps to stop what is happening now, as we head down a road leading to similar places. show less

This is an enthralling book, with some chapters extremely uncomfortable. But it needs to be written.

As a women's camp it received a lot less attention, publicity, recognition after the war which means all these women risk being forgotten and unacknowledged. It was a multi-cultural camp, with women of multiple nationalities as well as a mixture of politicos, prostitutes and the mentally disabled, let alone those who went insane whilst there. Several SOE agents ended up there. Women were frozen or starved to death, shot and gassed. Some were experimented on.

And yet the book describes the communities within the camp, the friendships and the mutual support given to each other. Writing sympathetically about the women's stories without show more minimising the horrors they lived through is challenging.

If the subject matter was different, I could have said this was a pleasure to read. It wasn't but it was certainly riveting. show less

I received an e-book copy of this title via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

After reading this book, the idea that Ravensbruck was not a death camp is beyond me. This book tells the story of the only concentration camp designated specifically for women. The author does a wonderful job with this book. She weaves together the stories of the prisoners, guards and facilities together gracefully. She includes a great deal of first person quotes from some of the women who passed through the camp. This really helped give the book a very personal feel. The book is quite long, so it will take a good investment of time to get through. It is very much worth it. Some of the stories in the book will break your heart and boil your blood. I find show more it hard to praise a book that covers so dark a topic, but this book really was a very impressive read. I think this book should become one of the standout works on WWII concentration camps and women in WWII. show less

Towards the end of this harrowing book, when I just wanted the horror to end, I found myself considering the effect of writing it on its author. Sarah Helm’s intention was to rescue the historical truth of a forgotten atrocity, but it must have been a gruelling project. There’s a quiet courage between the pages of this book, not to be dismissed because it is of a different order to the heroism among the victims whose fate the reader comes to know.

Sarah Helm became interested in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp when she was writing A Life in Secrets, Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WW2. Many Australians will know about this woman who despatched female agents into France for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), show more from the portrayal of Hilda Pierce in the TV series Foyle’s War or Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond novels and films. Helm tells us that after the war, Atkins went searching in Germany for her missing agents, 100 of whom were Missing Presumed Dead, and twelve of whom were women. That took her to Ravensbrück, the only concentration camp specifically for women, and one which was set up in the beginning for dissidents, (Communists from within Germany and its occupied territories, pacifist Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Polish resistance) and people who did not conform to the Aryan ideal – people who were intellectually and physically disabled, the Romani (gypsies), a-socials (prostitutes and habitual criminals) and Jews. Although there were medical experiments on some of the women, the primary purpose of the camp was to provide slave labour (e.g. for the purpose-built Siemens factory making munitions components) and although a steady number of women were shot and gassed in order to meet extermination targets, the intention was to work the women in inhumane conditions until they became useless and then died.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/06/01/if-this-is-a-woman-by-sarah-helm/ show less

I was at first a bit reluctant to read this book as I got the feel from the first pages it would be one of these interview account types, not to mention the depressing subject matter. But I am glad I persevered and experienced the awareness of what these women endured under the most horrific conditions.

It was at times hard to grasp just how inhumane humans can be towards helpless, defenseless victims. The suffering was endless not only from their German captors but for many atrocities from the Russian liberators, and in some cases Communists reprisals in their native lands. Adding to this burden were those who escaped justice and punishment as well as the silence and cover up. It is hard to imagine a worse ordeal of the countless who show more lost their lives and those who lived and live with the memory. This is the type of book that should be required reading at the high school level to leave a lasting impression. show less